


One Night’s Kiss

by B_Radley



Series: Becoming Fulcrum [21]
Category: Star Wars: Ahsoka - E. K. Johnston, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Grief/Mourning, Leaving, Starting Over, brief mentions of original characters and situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 10:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14999156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley
Summary: Ahsoka Tano has one night before she becomes Fulcrum.





	One Night’s Kiss

Kaeden Larte sighed as she pulled on a fresh borrowed shirt. She smiled at the recovered range of motion of her healing broken arm.

For the first time in her life, she had spent several hours in bacta. When she had come out of the fluid, her arm had been healed, with only a bit of twinge.

She wondered if she could look forward to this kind of medical care on Alderaan. Or wherever she decided to settle after the ordeal on Raada. The only home that she had really ever known. 

The leader of their rescuers, a tall, dignified man, but one with a bit of humor in the dignity, had told them that they would need to stay on Alderaan until the dust settled a bit from the imaginary battle that had taken place. At this, he had looked at them pointedly.

She rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. She had seen Ashla— _no, call her by her true name_ —Ahsoka talking to the leader. Their conversation had been quiet, but the powerful leader had listened to her every word, as she had his.

She, all of eighteen years old. When Kaeden had first met Ashla, she had been struck by the guarded look in the young woman’s eyes. A look of difficulty in trusting.

A look of loss. 

When she had realized that Ashla was Ahsoka, a former Jedi, she had still seen the look of pain. The look had been tempered with power and purpose. Renewed purpose.

Kaeden grinned sheepishly. Her fumbling attempts to make a pass at the fighter had probably not been appreciated, from what she knew of the Jedi.

Which is to say, not much. She had always heard the rumors that they did not engage in any type of relationship, or as she had heard it called— _attachment._

A slight knock sounds at the door of the cabin that she and Miara shared. A ship’s crewman stood there. The young woman smiles at Kaeden. “Miss Larte, someone has requested your presence in their quarters. Could you come with me?” Kaeden’s eyes grew wide. _This sounds ominous._ She closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at the crewer and nodded. 

A short walk through the rescue ship and she was left at a nondescript cabin door. The door opened. She stepped in.

Her breathing rate quickened. Ahsoka knelt next to a blue and white astromech. She looked up and smiled at Kaeden. “Okay, Artooey,” she says, in her clear voice. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

The droid rolled out. Ahsoka stood up. “Hey,” she said. Kaeden is unable to respond for a moment. She gazed at the tall warrior. Ahsoka is clad in an old tank top and a pair of shorts. Kaeden tried to find her voice at the expanse of orange—with hints of white markings—skin.

“Sorry,” she said. 

“It’s okay,” Ahsoka says. She holds out her hand and draws her into the cabin. The young farmer’s eyes widened at the cooler temperature of Ahsoka’s skin. 

The young fighter drew her to the bed. They sat and both pulled their legs up under them and looked at one another.

+=+=+=+=+=

Kaeden gathers her courage. She closes her eyes and then opens them quickly. Ahsoka’s wide blue eyes look at her. She sees encouragement.

“I’m sorry I said I wanted to kiss you, Ahsoka,” she says quietly. She sees the delicate white markings above the Jedi’s eyes rise.

“Really?” Ahsoka says. “What are you sorry about, Kaeden?”

Kaeden is surprised by the question. “I—,” she starts. She closes her mouth. 

Ahsoka rolls her eyes and looks at her. She looks as if she makes a decision. She takes Kaeden’s hand in hers and begins to softly rub the palm with her thumb. Kaeden gasps slightly. Ahsoka looks down. “I should be the one apologizing, Kaeden,” she says quietly. “I didn’t mean to ignore your offer, or your request. It’s just that I have tried to cut myself off from people. I’ve tried to forget my losses.”

“Ahsoka,” Kaeden starts. “I shouldn’t have said that. I know that Jedi don’t do things like that—,”

She is surprised when Ahsoka places her cool fingers on her lips. “That’s where you're wrong, girl,” the fighter says. “Jedi can have relations. We can kiss. We can do other things. We are not celibate. We just can’t form attachments. Especially possessive, unhealthy ones.”

She looks away. “Guess I shouldn’t say ‘we’,” she says, her eyes growing sad. “I am not a Jedi. I left them behind during the war,” she finishes.

Kaeden’s own eyes tear at the pain on her face and in her voice. She doesn’t ask the question. Instead, she forges ahead in a different direction. “Well, how does that work? How do you make love without love?” she asks. 

Ahsoka smiles. “Don’t know. I never actually understood it. I don’t think anyone of my generation did.” Her eyes grow sad again.

Kaeden steels herself for the next answer to her question. “Do you have someone?” she asks.

She sees the tears form, but just as quickly she sees them wiped away. “I did. At least for a night, in that way. He died.”

Kaeden’s eyes and heart sink as she hears the pronoun. She shakes her head “Hey,” Ahsoka says, placing her palm on the farmer’s cheek, “It’s okay. I’m not too picky about what kind of equipment anyone has that I’m with. I just need to be comfortable with them. I need to be able to talk to them.”

Kaeden looks her in the eye. “Can you talk to me? You didn’t talk much to me in the beginning.”

“Yeah, well, I was on the run. It wasn’t you.”

Kaeden notices that Ahsoka has not moved her hand from her cheek. Her heart starts to beat even faster. She looks away, then returns her eyes to Ahsoka’s. “You don’t have to kiss me, Ahsoka. I don’t even know what to do after we kiss. Plus, I know that you can’t stay. We’ll probably never see each other again—“

Her voice stills as the ex-Jedi’s—Raada’s protector—touches her lips with her own. 

A moment that she has dreamed of for several weeks is suddenly staring her in the face. She starts as she feels Ahsoka’s tongue touch her lips. She starts at the different texture as she opens her mouth.

Ahsoka allows Kaeden’s tongue into her mouth. After several moments, they break away. Kaeden can barely speak and nearly falls over. Ahsoka Smirks and brings her left arm around Kaeden’s back. 

Their lips meld again. Kaeden draws her hands up Ahsoka’s arms, marveling at the smooth skin and the hint of definition—the hint of power in them. Her hands reach the warrior’s face as they continue kissing. She starts when she realizes she is close to the young woman’s lekku. She pulls her hands away. Ahsoka stops kissing her, then silently takes Kaeden’s hands in hers and brings them back. Her eyes lock on the farmer’s. “It’s okay. I think we might be touching a few new places,” she says, her voice suddenly husky. 

Kaeden is able to marvel at the slightly different texture of the lekku. She can feel Ahsoka’s own breathing intensify. 

She allows her hands to drop. “I don’t know what to do, Ahsoka,” she whispers. “I’ve never done anything more than kiss.”

Ahsoka smiles. “You seem to do okay in that, sweetie,” she says. She looks down. “I have only had a few lovers—a girl, a boy—kinda—a woman, and a man. I’m not exactly all that experienced myself.” She looks down. “Plus, I have to go. We can only have tonight, for now. I don’t know what my life will be like.”

She looks away. Kaeden reaches up, more confident and kisses her. “I got to kiss you, Ahsoka. Anything else is golden,” she whispers against Ahsoka’s lips. 

Kaeden feels Ahsoka pull back slightly. She stares into Ahsoka’s blue eyes, losing herself. “One night,” she hears. Barely a whisper.

She feels Ahsoka’s arms pull her in tighter.

+=+=+=+=+=

Ahsoka pulls the closure of her vest up as she looks down at the young woman in the dim light. Her fingers drop from the top; they move gently through the tousled braids. She allows tears to form before brushing them away with her other hand.

She thinks of others she has left, in one way or another. She forces the thoughts from her mind; the pain of leaving—of more permanent loss.

She lifts her new lightsabers and hangs them from her old weapons belt. The newly arrived blasters, gifts from ones she had left behind; ones that for the most part would kill her on sight, now, victims of an insidious programming, follow. She paints a smile on her face. _All save one,_ she thinks, seeing the blonde hair and hearing the dry voice in her memory.

The pain rises as she touches the shoulder holsters. Gifts from one who had shared her life; who for one night on a pirate ship, had shared her body. One she had left in the night, her mind confused over new sensations and an uncertain path.

She grits her teeth and pushes them to the back of her pain. She shoulders her bag and reaches down to place a kiss on Kaeden’s lips.

Ahsoka Tano turns and palms open the door. She doesn’t look back.

Fulcrum must look forward to do what she must. To restore the light

A pair of green eyes and a crooked grin push their way through the determination of her new life.

+=+=+=+=+=

Kaeden Larte lifts up from the pillow as the door closes. She smiles sadly as she catalogues the new sensations of the night before. She closes her eyes. 

She wonders where life will take Ahsoka. The smile widens. Wherever it is, Ahsoka will be doing what she was born to do. Protecting those who can’t protect themselves.

Kaeden smiles. She has an appointment with Bail Organa later in the morning to discuss her future. A possible entry into a medical program on Alderaan.

She will follow Ahsoka’s example, in her own way.


End file.
